Vancouver Whitecaps came away from San Jose with their first away point of the season after the Earthquakes were heavily punished for having two players leaving the pitch at the same time to change their boots.
It was an unlikely draw for the Caps, who were ripped to pieces at times in the first half and were lucky to go in at the break just one goal down. A more spirited second half performance from Vancouver saw them battle hard and snatch a draw from a Corey Hertzog goal just past the hour mark.
As the game threatened to boil over in the closing minutes, San Jose mounted a frantic finish but were unable to pull off their trademark late heroics and Vancouver held on for a vital point.
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Martin Rennie was looking to try and find a winning formula for playing on the road, and with Kenny Miller missing the trip to California due to a hamstring injury, Rennie rang the changes.
It was a surprising three changes in all from last week's defeated starting eleven, with Russell Teibert coming in for the disappointing Gershon Koffie, Erik Hurtado in for Camilo Sanvezzo, and Corey Hertzog getting his first start of the season for the struggling Darren Mattocks, with all three pushing for starting spots with their recent performances in MLS and Reserve games.
Two of the keys to the Whitecaps having a change in fortunes on the road was more awareness of what was going on around them and better marking and it was evident from the early stages that lessons had not been learned.
San Jose had a great chance to open the scoring on the five minute mark.
Alan Gordon sent a dangerous cross into the six yard box and despite the double coverage on Chris Wondolowski from Brad Rusin and Alain Rochat, last year's MLS Golden Boot winner got ahead of both defenders but couldn't get enough power on the ball and Joe Cannon was able to smother the danger from close range.
The Caps defenders were so focussed on Wondolowski that they never saw Shea Salinas ghost in completely unmarked to the back post. Luckily for Vancouver, neither did Gordon.
The Whitecaps settled and Teibert had their first effort on goal in the 12th minute, with a high long range shot that was well over the bar.
More slack defending from the Caps allowed Dan Gargan to break on the right and get a cross over to Gordon on the penalty spot, but it was a weak header from the San Jose striker and Cannon easily held on to the effort.
Vancouver had another lucky escape in the 16th minute when San Jose pounced on a cheap giveaway from Nigel Reo-Coker and Wondolowski got in a shot from the edge of the box, after some nice interplay between Gordon, Salinas and himself. Cannon got down well to save and the Whitecaps were fortunate that Andy O'Brien was on hand to clear away the rebound before Wondolowski pounced.
With San Jose picking Vancouver apart, it was only a matter of time before the Earthquakes took the lead. That came in the 18th minute and once again Salinas, Gordon and Wondolowski were involved and it came about as a result of a poor defensive giveaway.
Rochat tried to play a short pass to Jun Marques Davidson but Wondolowski got his foot in to nudge it into the path of Salinas. The ex Caps winger played the ball across to Gordon on the edge of the box and he played it first time into the path of Wondolowski, who took an excellent first touch and buried it high into the net from ten yards out, giving Cannon no chance.
It was no more than San Jose's play deserved and you were already starting to wonder just how heavy a defeat Vancouver were going to be on the end of.
The Whitecaps took a while to realise that the best form of defence was to attack more but they had their best chance of the game so far midway through the half.
Daigo Kobayashi brilliantly slipped the ball through into the path of Hertzog, who looked offside, but the striker hesitated for a split second and it allowed Jon Busch to come out and close down the angle and Hertzog pulled his shot wide.
San Jose looked the more dangerous side for the rest of the half but the game calmed down and neither team could create any real chances.
Vancouver went in at the half lucky to just be one down and they came close to going two down within a minute of the restart when Shea Salinas was allowed to run at the Caps defence and forced Cannon into a save from a tight angle.
Hurtado had a chance to go one better than Salinas for the Caps moments later, when he gave himself time and space in the box but shot wildly over.
Cannon had to act quickly on the hour mark to come off his line and smother the ball with two Earthquakes ready to pounce, after a Victor Bernardez free kick somehow got through the wall and sat invitingly in the box.
Two minutes later and the Whitecaps were level.
With two San Jose players off the pitch to change their boots and waiting to come back on, Vancouver took advantage and a Kobayashi shot from the edge of the box deflected into the path of Hertzog, who showed nice control before burying the ball low into the corner.
It was what the striker has been showing in recent reserve games and was the reason he got his chance in this game.
Both sides made substitutions and San Jose's Steven Lenhart nearly made an immediate impact, flashing a header wide left within seconds of coming on.
Vancouver had a penalty shout in the 74th minute waved away when substitute Camilo Sanvezzo went down easily in the box under pressure from Gargan.
The game got feisty and niggly, as tempers flared in the closing minutes, with several hard challenges going in from both sides. Reo-Coker's hard hit on Cronin was a signal that the Caps were not about to be bowled over, but they were forced to hold on desperately in stoppage time as the Earthquakes launched their traditional late surge.
As the match entered the final minute of stoppage time, Lenhart back flicked a header straight into the path of Cronin, who rattled a shot off the left hand post. The rebound broke to Wondolowski and the usually deadly hitman took too long to control the ball and YP Lee got in a vital last ditch block.
San Jose kept the pressure on and won a corner. With the Vancouver defence all over the place, Cannon eventually got the ball out for a second one which was perfectly put onto the head of Cronin, but the defender could only look on as Cannon produced a spectacular save on the goal-line to save the day and the point for the Caps.
It was an unlikely point in the end, as San Jose were left to rue their slew of missed chances and bad decision making by two experienced players.
The joy of the point earned covers up what was a poor Vancouver performance for about two thirds of the game. Once again the defence seemed to be all over the place and the midfield posted missing.
It may be a display and a gutsy performance that kick-starts the Whitecaps season, but there is still a lot work to be done to keep pace with the many better teams in the West right now.
FINAL SCORE: San Jose Earthquakes 1 - 1 Vancouver Whitecaps
ATT: 10,525
SAN JOSE: Jon Busch, Dan Gargan, Victor Bernardez, Ty Harden, Justin Morrow, Shea Salinas (Cordell Cato 69), Sam Cronin, Rafael Baca, Ramiro Corrales (Steven Lenhart 69), Chris Wondolowski, Alan Gordon (Mike Fucito 76) [subs Not Used: David Bingham, Adam Jahn, Brad Ring, Tommy Muller]
VANCOUVER: Joe Cannon; Young-Pyo Lee, Brad Rusin, Andy O'Brien, Alain Rochat; Jun Marques Davidson, Nigel Reo-Coker, Russell Teibert (Gershon Koffie 68), Daigo Kobayashi (Camilo Sanvezzo 65); Erik Hurtado, Corey Hertzog (Tommy Heinemann 82) [subs Not Used: Brad Knighton, Jordan Harvey, Matt Watson, Darren Mattocks]
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